breathe in... inspire

the context: my friend alex from montreal has embarked upon an immense, wonderful journey. we heard inklings about it initially, then saw the architects' concept drawings, and then blueprints. a survey came out, then a website. with a schedule, and a location!

well, yesterday was a big day. i finally got to see 'the space' and was no less than beyond impressed with its grand ceilings, naked beams and amazing light. i cursed not having my trusty camera on me. I'm super thrilled to see this plan/dream/mission/vision finally taking a physical shape, and as moataz and i agreed, alex is the only person we know that we could see making this happen. with her stellar team and support network, she will (is there any other way?) I look forward to the day that i pretzel myself into my first class... or perhaps I'll take in a massage and a juice after a spin class. in the meantime, i will work on inspiring (in more ways than one) and expiring (hopefully only in the good way).

it was so nice to see my montreal friends these past few days... funny to think that although we've all embarked upon our own unique set of challenges and missions at this time, that we can lounge around and chat and laugh like (what now are) old times. comforting, really.. since the insanity of daily life can somehow often seem ironically insular. i love the experience i have lived many times, of meeting new faces and clicking, unclicking, discovering haunts and good souls in new cities i'll then call home, but there certainly is a lot to be said for the comfort generated by the people with whom you share memories, a past, a remember-when... the beauty is that at some point some years ago, none of us could have guessed that we would be that to each other today.

well, i'm refreshed already by the sight of the studio breathe, and as mentioned, inspired. i look forward to the next set of updates that we'll have for one another.

down time

we spent the august long weekend (called BC Day out here!) at the cabin at Buccaneer Bay.. It was the annual Sports Day, so virtually every family was up for the weekend.. But there were still some quiet moments to be found.

beached

Our vacation was lovely... We camped on the beach near the ocean in Port Renfrew.. if only we'd been able to buy fish for dinner at the dock.. then AP wouldn't have been roasting frozen General Store chicken over an open fire until midnight while N ate leeks and cheese with her carrots. But glorious it was...

y diez son seis

The night of the lantern event, Callum invited us to go hiking the next day. We were supposed to do the Eagle Ridge trail, but when our fellow hikers bailed at 7am, claiming violent hail storms in Surrey, we set off instead for a 'shorter' hike. Callum, Adrian and I ventured up the Diez Vistas Trail, although we only ever identified six of them.

Worthwhile as they were. Despite a short bout of light precipitation, it did not progress into hail.

The last views of the trail we had hiked were also spectacular...

and the swamp at the end of the trail also yielded some nice wildflowers.